Improvement in buildings



dlnited Quatre y JULES TOUAILLON, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Letters Patent No. 99,973,

dated February 15, 1870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the name'.

To all whomtmay concern:

Be it known that I, JULES ToUAILnoN, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and improved Method of Constructing Buildings, so as to render them proof' against earthquake shocks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, olea-r, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings and letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates t0 certain improvements iu dwelling-houses, warehouses, and other buildings, and consists of certain details of construction hereinafter more fully described; and has for its object security against injury to or destruction of buildings byearthquakes.

Inthe drawings that form apart of this specification- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a dwelling having my improvements, in which a is the foundation, and b the superstructure. c represents a strong plate, made of metal or other suitable material, resting upon and forming a part of the foundation of the building. d cl are spherical'balls, resting upon the plate c, and free to move in any direction. c' is a plate, similar to c, resting upon the balls d d, and secured to and forms a paitof the superstructure.

Figure 2 represents a plan of a part of plate c broken out of one corner.

Figure 3 represents a.. sectional view of the plates c c' and the balls d d on a vertical plane, passing through the center of one row of balls. l

Figure 4 is a. similar section, but with the balls d cl and plates c in a different relative position.

The upper face of plate c and the lower face of plate c are provided with depressions having the form of a segment of sphere with a radius considerably greater than that of the balls d d.

In figs. 1 and 3, the depressions in the plate c are directly above and opposite the corresponding depressions in the lower plate c, and the weight ol' the superstructure will have no tendency to change this rel-` ative position of the plates c c', and the balls d d.

Now, if' during an earthquake, sudden. and violent motion should be communicated to the foundation a the depressions in plate c, while the inertia ofthe superstructure would cause the spherical sides of the depressions in the plate c to ride up toward the top of' the balls d d, as represented in g. 4; but as the weight i of the superstructure is a powerful force opposed to such a movement as'this last described, these two forces tend to neutralize each other, and will do so when the superstructure acquires the same velocity as the foundation, and once having' acquired this velocity, the aforesaid weight will cause the plates c c' and the balls (l d to resume their original relative'position.

It will be seen that by this device the earthquake motion would be communica-ted to the superstructure without shock, and consequently no injury wouldre- .sult from `such motion to a properly constructed build- LIn cities where buildings are built with very little space between them, the walls may be provided with springs or bumpers, made of India rubber or other suitable material, to prevent injury or destruction from striking together.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent isbuilding, constructed with its superstructure separate and distinct from its foundation, the two parts heilig separated by means of balls arranged' substantially as described, for the purpose sct forth.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

JULES TOUAILLON.. [n s.} Witnesses:

C. W. M. SMITH, H. S. TIBBEY. 

